Mormeg has painted this orc quite a long time ago but I didn't manage to show him yet. This is further old plastic miniature from the very beginning of cooperation of GW and powers behind Jackson's Lord of the Ring movie. I don't really like this particular design as I think weapon looks a bit silly.

I am ashamed to say that painted forces of Evil from my bro's collection outnumber mine painted Rohan at least ten to one now... Maybe even more.

Third of the American marines, painted for Strategie forum painting competition. It is also the one I'm least satisfied with. First - it has awkward pose, making painting legs really difficult. Second, I have a feeling that eyes are badly painted. Third - and most important - I managed to screw up camo, despite having written down process of painting it. I tried to improve it a little bit, but it didn't turned well I think. Main colour of camo overalls should be much lighter.

And last but not least - I can't make colors on photos correct. The one with colors closest to the original ones is the photo above, still it is not perfect too.

Third part of Imperial Guard description, published for the first time in 109th issue of "White Dwarf". Text is written probably by Rick Priestley.

TROOP TYPES

The Imperial Guard incorporates troops of many types and races. In addition to the standard, general-purpose tactical platoon, a wide range of individuals and units see service with the Imperial Guard.

ADEPTUS MECHANICUS

The Imperial Guard's equipment is serviced directly by the Adeptus Mechanicus and their Servitors. The Adeptus Mechanicus personnel and Servitors are directly responsible for the Guard's vehicles and are the custodians of all the Guard's support weaponry and equipment.

Servitors

Servitors are Humans modified by the Adeptus Mechanicus, with the sole purpose of operating machinery. They are selected from various sources - the Penal Batallions, planetary reformatories, captured rebel forces and other sources of unwanted manpower - and then brain-scrubbed, physically adapted if necessary, and given intensive biochem and training. The result is less than Human, but has vastly enhanced mechanical capabilities. Servitors are able to operate their machines without thought, by instinctive response resulting from their intensive training and modification, and a single Servitor can perform the functions of two normal crewmen.

COMMISSARS

On the battlefield, Commissars accompany the highest- ranking officers in an Imperial Guard force, encouraging bravery and devotion to the Imperial cause, and ensure that cowardice and vacillation are punished and their effects on the force minimised. Away from the battlefield, Commissars act as priests and advisors, conducting rituals, giving instruction and performing other duties to ensure firm adherence to the Imperial cult. This does not necessarily mean that the religious or ritualistic practices of a platoon's cultural origins are forbidden. On the contrary, the Commissars are skilled at adapting such rites and making them an 'official' part of the Imperial Cult.

SANCTIONED PSYKERS

Not all psykers are killed out of hand or shipped to Terra for absorption by the Emperor. Sanctioned Psykers are often attached to Command Sections of Imperial Guard platoons. These individuals have often led a bizarre life as fugitives, hidden by friends or tribal groups and always in fear of their lives. Consequently, they may manifest considerable eccentricity in their dress and behaviour. They are often afflicted with mutations, an enlarged cranium being particularly characteristic.

ASSAULT PLATOONS

Some platoons are specially trained for close combat; recruits from feral and hive worlds are particularly renowned for their ferocity in hand-to-hand fighting. These troops are drawn from the most ferocious and brutal feral-world tribes and hive-world gangs, and take great pride in their fearsome reputation. Ritual scars, facial mutilations and other identity marks characteristic of their homeworld culture are common - as they are throughout the Imperial Guard - and some assault troops invent their own platoon markings in addition, to add to their barbaric and fearsome appearance. The taking of scalps, ears and other trophies is common.

ROUGH RIDERS

On many undeveloped frontier worlds, with no properly developed communication system, the Imperium has found that horses provide the most viable form of transport. horses have been bred continuously since the early days of expansion into space for this very reason. Imperial Guard units from frontier worlds which have an equestrian military culture are often used more or less permanently as mounted scouts and foragers. These platoons of horse-mounted Guardsmen are known as Rough Riders.

Rough Rider units are sometimes issued with a nine-foot hunting lance whose head bears a shaped explosive charge. These are used for hunting big game on Feral Worlds - the quarry is driven to bay by troopers acting as beaters, and the officers draw lots to decide who will dispatch it with the lance - but they are also used by the Guard in battle. Rough Rider Lancers have proved particularly effective against riotous mobs and massed hordes of Gretchins and similar opponents; they can sometimes even produce a better result against heavier, power-armoured troops than the standard-issue lasgun of the Imperial Guard.

BEASTMEN

The Beastman breed of Abhuman is becoming increasingly common on the frontiers of the Empire, and sometimes whole planetary groups are populated by Beastmen. What they lack in intelligence, Beastmen make up in aggression and determination. They commonly have a simple but fierce devotion to the Imperial cult, fired by a desperate wish to atone for their sin of being born mutants by doing the Emperor's will on the battlefield. For Beastmen, the Emperor is portrayed as vengeful and proud, demanding tribute in the flesh and blood of his enemies. The borderline between this crude form of Emperor worship and the Chaos cult of Khorne is thin, and the Beastmen's limited intellect mean that some inevitably cross over to Chaos.

Ogryns are large, powerfully-built Abhumans, thought to be descended from Humans marooned on prison planets long ago. They are valuable troops because of their strength, brutality and childlike devotion to the Imperial cult. However, their limited intellect can make them frighteningly unpredictable and erratic. Ogryn squads must be led by Ogryn leaders, who have received brain- enhancement surgery.

Owing to their size and basic intelligence, Ogryns are normally equipped with weapons that have been designed specifically for them - mainly low-technology weapons and primitive armour. Grenades must be specially made for the Ogryns' large hands, and take the form of large metal cylinders with a ring-pull detonator at one end. Ogryn leaders are often equipped with a weapon they have dubbed the Ripper Gun, a simple but effective drum-fed, large- calibre auto-shotgun firing canister scatter-shot.

RATLINGS

Halflings, the smallest Abhuman breed, are known by a variety of names throughout the Imperium, but the name that has passed into common usage within the bulk of the Imperial Guard is Ratlings. They are used mainly as snipers, and are not subject to the otherwise rigid platoon structures. they may operate as independent squads.

PENAL BATTALIONS

The Penal Battalions are drawn from Imperial Guard and planetary defence force troops who have committed capital crimes, and had their sentences commuted to life service. There are a great many capital crimes, so the supply of potential troops for the Penal Battalions is never-ending.

New troops have their heads shaved and tattooed with the unit insignia, and explosive slave-collars are put around their necks. The collars are a disciplinary device rather than a means of turning the troops into Human Bombs - the blast is directed inwards, and will have little effect on anyone standing even a few feet away. The collars are controlled by the Adeptus Mechanicus personnel accompanying the force, and are detonated sparingly, when discipline needs to be enforced without destroying the troops' morale.

Penal Battalions are a part of the regular fighting force of the Imperial Guard, and a commander who regards Penal Battalion troops merely as cannon-fodder and uses them wastefully is liable to end up in a Penal Battalion himself.

-There are those who undervalue the Penal Battalions. But they should consider this: should a man who has wronged the Emperor be allowed to wrong him further?For each man executed is a man who can no longer serve, and to fail in service to the Emperor is the greatest of sins."

- Leman Russ, Meditations on Imperial Command, Book XXI

HUMAN BOMBS

The troops sentenced to service in the Penal Battalions are there for life, and must live under a tremendous burden of guilt; for not only have they committed crimes, but in so doing they have betrayed the Emperor.

However, the Emperor in his mercy has ordained that Penal Battalion troops should have the opportunity to repent and atone for their crimes - hence, the Human Bombs.

Any Penal Legion trooper may volunteer for service as a Human Bomb. In addition to his normal equipment, he is fitted with an explosive harness. The moment he dons the harness, he is absolved by the Emperor and the burden of his guilt is lifted. He also has a chance of freedom, for some of the harnesses are rigged not to explode - if he survives the battle, he is absolved and free.

One more of Dark Angels from Heresy times, or maybe already Fallen Angel. Miniature painted by my brother, Mormet, kit-bashed from various sets. I really like small details here, showing legion allegiance, like parts of the backpack or rope with a icon hanging on the shoulder pad. But what I really like is the metal skull, gleaming in the dark... Is it only my imagination, or is this head really resembling terminator skull?

Second of recently painted American WW2 marines for "Bolt Action" game. Soldier armed with BAR light machine gun, commonly known as a barman. This is plastic miniature by Warlord Games. In this case, his arms and gun itself were separate pieces and I had to file and shape both machine gun and arm of the miniature, to get a realistic look. I hate when equipment looks like it is just glued on, hanging in the air. Unfortunately, making realistic grip wasn't exactly easy...

Base is large as "Bolt Action" has no base standard and allows to base miniatures on any "good sized" bases, no smaller then 25 mm though (this is not a official rule but it is almost universally accepted). As I didn't have had any flat "bike" or "sniper" bases at the time, I just used this large round one. Of course, my snipers bases were delivered to my home the same day, just few hours later, when the base and miniature were finished...

It happened. Both I and my brother Mormeg are devoured by madness. We were tricked by GW's Christmas deals into starting yet another 40K army - Tyranids, which were intriguing us both for quite a long time. Army will be painted as a joint effort, so it is a good chance that we will be able to play with painted miniatures in reasonable timeframe.

We decided to paint our army in the colors of Hive Fleet Behemoth, but it was a coincidence rather, then concious choice. We both, simply, came to the conclusion, that bright red and blue will look good next to each other. First four termagaunts were painted by me as a kind of test miniatures, to check and write down stages of painting and colours used, to make paint scheme consistent. All four miniatures took about seven, maybe eight hours from start till the finish. The most time-consuming part was painting armour plates, which are - coincidentally - also the part of the miniatures I'm least satisfied with. I think I have to rethink how to highlight plates' edges, everything else will stay as it is now. First layers of main color, red, and two layers of highlights, were aerobrushed on. It is a great time saver. I think all four miniatures took about 30 minuts to paint and highlight them. With brush alone, I think it would take at least two hours...

Wristsplitter - this is the name of the last of recently painted "hourly skeletons". This particular miniature was casted, as it used to be, in lead rich alloy. I don't really know what happened. Maybe this is the case of "one pose change too much" illness, maybe it is a dreaded lead rot. I just noticed that sword is gently moving while painted. Well, to bo honest I felt a little strange. Metal bending under brush pressure? I have had to be high, right? But no! I was right, it wasn't some strange mind trick or trick of light. Next brush stroke and sword was visibly moving first, and then he just fall off taking skeletal hand too. Bad luck. Fortunately, I was able to pin both pieces and glue them together. I'm not too keen on using such miniatures though, as risk of damaging them again is high.

Photos of Wristsplitter and his four other "hourly" comrades at the bottom of the note. With this one finished, number of my "hourly skeletons" has reached ten.